Jenny and the Frog
by BananaKingCharlie
Summary: My take on what really happened between Jenny and the frog. She hates him and she has her reasons, but when she finally confesses to Jethro, will he understand? Rated T for swearing and mild violence!
1. Disappearing Director

**Author's Note: I don't own anything! The following is my take on what really happened with the whole Jenny/LaGrenouille situation! Contains season 4 spoilers! The story is told from Jenny's perspective...enjoy!**

A small mischievous smile curled at the edges of my lips. I had succeeded, and my task had been much easier than I had thought. My mission was dark, and foreboding, but here I was running past the Eiffel Tower, thrilled.

My time had finally come. I was closing in.

"_Jethro would kill me if he knew._" I thought to myself as I hailed a cab and slid into the backseat. There was no way though. He wouldn't find out, I was on a completely different continent with an ocean separating us. And even if he did find out, my goals would be long accomplished by then.

"Our Lady's Hospital, please." I directed the cabbie in perfect French. Another small victory. My list was piling up...considering my current circumstances things were going well

I exited the cab and paid my fare, and headed into the hospital. I got directions from the receptionist at the front desk and took the elevator up three floors. It occurred to me for the first time as the doors closed on the elevator just what a serious security breach this was. For God's sake I had managed to ditch an _entire_ security detail. It should have been a lot harder than it was.

"_Your father stood where you are...three days ago._" Those words haunted me as I walked along the river, pulling my green trench coat around me, and shivering in the cold.

It was impossible, he had died twelve years ago. I found him in the study with a single gunshot wound in his head. They had accused him of treason. My father, a decorated war hero was being accused of betraying his country. I knew immediately that it was a set-up. My father would have died before betraying the country he loved to serve. Somebody was messing with my mind, somebody was trying to get to me. That much was obvious.

He was the reason why I had joined NCIS. I figured that I could maybe get some answers. Years into my career I still had no solid proof, but the pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together. I had know for years, but in just a few short hours I would be on a plane back home, able to prove it.

I bought a triple shot of espresso from a street vendor hoping it would warm me up. I sipped the bitter liquid slowly, letting the warmth run through me as I stared at the river.

"Hello Jennifer." The words made my blood run cold. I hated the sound of his voice.

I turned around slowly to find him staring at me. We were face to face, just the Frog and I.

"Bastard!" I screamed as I threw the remnants of my drink down his coat.

"Feisty as ever." He said in a low accented voice.

"You haven't seen feisty yet." I growled as I pivoted sharply on my heels. I had come too far for this...I was not going to blow years of hard work with a violent confrontation on the streets of Paris.

"Run away like always Jennifer." The Frog taunted me as I walked away, my blood running colder still.

I hated the way he said my full name. The way he accented the second syllable always reminded me of my mother. Her ability to speak fluent French had captivated me at a young age. She had died too soon for my liking. So young and innocent. I was only eight and it broke my heart.

That coupled with the accusation that I always ran away sickened me. If anybody knew how to run it was him. I could feel my stomach turn as I kept walking. My hands were numb and my ears were so cold they hurt by the time I reached my hotel.

"Director Shepard!" Three agents yelled in unison as I entered the lobby.

"Hello Mike, Tom and Joley." I said casually.

"Director! Are you all right? We've been frantic for just about a day now..." Mike yelled as he ran towards me.

"I'm fine. You mustn't worry about me. I was an agent once too." I smiled at my detail as they wore pained expressions.

I had no doubt that my disappearance had sent them into a frenzy. All three of them were probably hoping and praying they'd still have jobs once I was found.

"I'm more than all right actually." I said with a cheerful smile as I winked at Joley Anderson.

"Ma'am...what happened were you held hostage again?" Mike pressed on.

"Not exactly..." I trailed off hoping Joley would intervene soon.

"Boys...give her some breathing room." Joley shoved her way between Mike and Tom and stood in front of them.

"Director...we're just glad you're back...aren't we boys?" Joley said as she smiled at me slightly and gave me a knowing glance.

"We sure are." Tom answered quickly.

"Tom, Mike would you see to it that a dinner is sent up to my room? I'm awfully sorry about all of this confusion order a nice steak for yourselves. We've got an early departure tomorrow morning. While you're at it, see that Joley gets a meal too." I snapped my fingers and without hesitation Joley followed me to the elevators while Mike and Tom headed to the kitchen to order some food.

"Now it's time for some serious girl-talk." I said as I unbuttoned my jacket and flung it over the armchair in my suite.

Joley looked at me petulantly. She was probably terrified that she'd be fired.

"You know how it is...being in this business. The men they either love it or they hate it. When you finally find somebody who doesn't mind...well it can be tough to get the schedules to match up. So if I went off-grid for a few hours of fun with a businessman you'd look the other way wouldn't you?" I said as I looked at Joley.

She nodded slowly.

"Thanks." I said quickly, sighing relief that I had thrown her off the beaten path.

"Director." Joley addressed me sharply.

"Yes?" I asked with a raised eyebrow unable to imagine what she'd have to say.

"If I were you I would have done the same thing." Joley confessed, and I could see her face relax a little bit.

It was cute, she thought we were actually having a heart-to-heart.

"Really?" I countered.

"Well, I mean not on NCIS time of course, but if I found somebody who really liked me, and could put up with the long hours, and the risks my job involves then yes, I would probably sneak around. We've all been there. It's what happens when you find something that is too good to be true." Joley's eyes grew wide as she said it, and I could tell she was choking back tears.

"You'll find somebody someday. He will understand." I said reassuringly.

It was comforting. Mike and Tom joined us an hour later and we all ate steak and enjoyed light conversation.

"Okay...everybody out. Let's concentrate on getting packed and heading home." I announced shortly after ten pm.

"Yes Director." Three voices chorused.

I threw everything in the one large suitcase I had brought. I knew that Noemi would do the laundry for me and iron everything properly. At this point, wrinkles were the last thing on my mind.

I fell into bed and curled up under the satiny sheets. I was falling asleep in Paris, and there was only one thing on my mind: Leroy Jethro Gibbs.


	2. Confrontation

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing!

"I've knocked in too many doors to be polite." Jethro announced with a smirk as he made his way into my study.

I had just arrived home from Paris. I knew that even at such a late hour this wasn't a social call. He no doubt wanted to fill me in on what had happened while I was gone.

"Don't touch it!" I yelled with a tenacity that shocked even me.

"It's Scotch. You drink bourbon." I said dryly as Jethro's hand stopped just short of the liquor bottle that sat on my desk.

"So do you." Jethro said dryly.

I took the hint and poured us both a glass.

"You went off grid Jen...for twenty-two hours." Jethro said, his breath heavy, and his blue eyes piercing through me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Did you really think that nobody would notice? That your detail wouldn't be frantic?" Jethro said with hostility.

I shrugged again.

"What were you doing for an entire day...by yourself...in Paris?" Jethro pressed as he finished his bourbon.

"What we used to do ever so well." I said quickly, hoping to keep up the charade I had started with Agent Anderson.

"Your right eye twitches when you lie. It always has." Jethro replied angrily as he slammed his empty glass on my desk.

"What the Hell did he ever do to you Jen? What is this all about?" Jethro demanded.

"Please leave." I said quietly.

Jethro turned and exited the study. Just before he slammed my front door I heard him grumble.

"Thanks for the drink."


	3. Death of a Frog

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing!

"And the jester has been kicked out of the court." I said with a sly smile.

"Long live the queen." Jethro replied bitterly as he exited my office, slamming the door.

The sound reverberated through my office, and I should have been used to it but it cut me to the quick. For once he hadn't pried, and to say that it upset me was an understatement.

The Frog was finally dead, and for that I was eternally grateful.

It haunted me all day. Not his lack of words, I was used to that. But his probing quiet way had ceased. It was almost as if Jethro wasn't interested and it made me jealous. It was petty I know, but that's how I really felt.

My heels clacked down the rickety wooden stairs of his basement. He was sanding that damn boat.

"Come here to punish me?" Jethro asked slyly.

"You wish." I retorted, folding my arms and staring at him.

"You asked once...what he did to me, why I hated him so much. But you didn't ask me tonight." I said quickly, wanting to get the awkwardness over with.

"It doesn't matter, he's dead now." Jethro muttered.

"It matters!" I screamed. I needed to know that all of my effort hadn't been in vain.

"Jen...what's gotten into you?" Jethro asked as he set down a piece of sandpaper.

"For years, you stayed silent. Keeping the past to yourself. Your secret would have been safe with me. All the time that we were partners. You never said one word about Shannon and Kelly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad about that. I was mad for a long time. I never understood it until today. Sometimes the past, the truth is too hard to speak. I get it. I understand." I said in a shaky voice as I repressed my tears.

"Is that why you're here?" Jethro asked. Now he would press me for the truth.

I nodded.

"After what happened...what you did for me. I owe you this." I said as I reached into my purse and slowly retrieved a yellowed piece of paper. I handed it to Jethro.

Gingerly, he unfolded the document and read it. His eyes grew wide, and he stared at me, then back at the paper, then at me again.

"Oh Jenny." Jethro whispered as he closed the space between us and wrapped me in his arms.

I sobbed and sobbed. I sank down onto the cold hard floor of the basement, wanting to feel something. Some sort of emotion. Jethro held me for the longest time, patiently waiting for me to regain my composure.

"You're right. Sometimes the past is so awful...so dark that it isn't worth mentioning." Jethro said as he handed the paper back to me.

"I found it shortly after my dad died.....it made me sick. Literally. Poor Noemi had to clean it up. I committed myself to bed for days. I lived on Scotch and Godiva Chocolates for weeks. I never wanted to believe it, but it is true. I checked the hall of records when I was in Paris." I choked out the last part.

"Dying men have nothing to lose." Jethro said as he helped me stand up.

"It confused me then. I thought he was trying to mess with my mind. When he told me my father had visited him three days before I never thought of it like that..." I choked back a cry as I looked up at Jethro.

"Jenny...I'd do it all over again just for you." Jethro said as I could see pain flash in his eyes. He was recalling what we had done, as a team a few nights prior.

"That means the world to me." I confessed.

Jethro wrapped me in a tight hug. I decided to lighten the mood.

"I could have never made that shot." I teased as I ran a gentle hand down his back.

"That's for damn sure." Jethro replied.


	4. Epilogue

**Author's Note: I don't own anything! I'm just guessing on the time line for this part of the story. I think it might fit because it would make Jenny in her late thirties or early forties. **

**Paris, France **

**Mid to late 1960's.**

"Marielle! We'll be late!" A voice chimed in the conversation.

"Whatever, it is a tourist trap anyhow." Marielle commented quickly.

"For you perhaps, but for us full-blooded, uncultured American swine we call it a damn good time." One girl teased back.

"It's not my fault I'm half-French." Marielle DuBonne quipped.

"Are the girls really nude?" One voice asked.

"Yes. It is the Moulin Rouge after all." Marielle said. She still couldn't get over the American pre-occupation with compulsive modesty.

"So Marielle why are you here after all?" One of the girls she shared the dorm with asked again.

"Studying abroad fees are cheaper than traveling on my own." Marielle quipped.

"Aha! How clever." One girl said with a smile. She would have never thought of such a thing.

"Ladies...let's go!" Marielle directed as a half-dozen girls trickled out of the dorm suite they had been sharing all semester.

"Mademoiselle, this is from the gentleman at the next table." The waiter explained as he poured Marielle and her friends the finest champagne they had available.

Marielle looked over and saw the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He had dark hair, dark eyes, sculpted cheekbones and he was pleasantly tan. Marielle decided to be bold. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"I am Marielle, thank you for the delightful champagne." She whispered in his ear.

Gently, he leaned in and reached for her hand.

"I am Renee Benoit, and you are very welcome." The man replied.

**Six Months Later**

"Daddy! No!" Marielle yelled over the phone.

"It is for the best. You have shamed us." Pierre DuBonne said before hanging up on his daughter.

Marielle sat in her room crying. It was only a matter of time now. She would be staying in Paris, and having her child alone. Her father had wired her plenty of money. He said that he would care for her, and he had delivered on his promise. Considering the circumstances Marielle should have been grateful, but money to live lavishly on wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to come home to her parents and have her baby in America with her mother close by to guide her. Now it would never happen. First Renee had shut her out completely, leaving her with a modest amount of money, claiming that she could get by. Now her own family denied her. It was almost too much to bear.

**Two Years Later**

"Jennifer...don't go too far!" Marielle warned as Jennifer DuBonne ran through a tree-lined park in Paris.

It was too late. Jenny had taken off like a speeding train, and all Marielle could see were her daughter's red curls running away from her. Panting and out of breath, Marielle finally caught up to her daughter.

"Mama!" Jenny squealed as she squirmed in the arms of a young man.

Marielle glanced at the man's uniform and recognized it instantly. He was an American Marine.

"Thank-you for finding her!" Marielle said as she smiled at the handsome young man and stared at Jenny.

"Mama!" Jenny said as she reached for her mother.

"It's no problem ma'am." The Marine said as he handed Jenny off to Marielle.

"Please, sir, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel so old." Marielle confessed as she blushed a bit, staring into the bright green eyes of the young soldier.

"Please don't call me sir. My name is Jasper Shepard." The young man said as he extended a hand.

**SIX MONTHS LATER**

Marielle heaved a sigh and slid the small piece of paper on top of the contents of the large trunk. She doubted that anybody would ask, especially with such a small child. But she had it if she needed it, and it would be useful documentation for the American courts. The four words were burned into her mind: "_Termination of Parental Rights_." As she looked at Jasper playing with Jenny in the sitting room, she couldn't help but smile, relieved that Renee had actually signed the document.

**THE END**


End file.
